I love connecting thoughts and ideas that don’t seem to have any obvious connections. My teaching style runs along that line and I have always referred to it as connecting the dots. I was teaching a group last night and got to help them make some connections. Leadership and love make connections in Philippians 2.

Paul says, Therefore… Because of all that is written in chapter 1 we are to give attention to what is about to be said. That includes the comments he made about being granted the opportunity to suffer for Christ.

Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose, 2:1-2.

He is imploring his flock to loving conduct. That conduct will make his joy complete. His encouragement to them is instructional to us. We will make the joy of our leaders complete when we conduct ourselves in the manner he describes. Does our day-to-day conduct match what Paul describes? We are to be of one mind. We are to be in agreement. Unity in mind and purpose can exist without uniformity in thought and action. We can understand with singleness of thought what we are to do but we may express that understanding in myriad ways.

Christians have forgiveness and salvation in common. That is grounds for unity in the body. God loves each of us in more ways than we can know. While it’s good and necessary to know His love and study the depths of it, we are sometimes in need of something tangible. We are like the child who was told how much God loved her. She said she didn’t feel loved. Her mom explained that God loved her through the Holy Spirit. Her response was, I want to be loved by somebody with skin on! (Out of the mouths of babes…)

Connections And Commitment

Paul’s next words describe how we are to be loved:

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.

Now, turn on your imagination and view a church in which everyone regarded YOU as more important than themselves. WOW! Everyone there loves you, everyone there looks out for you, everyone there wants to hear what you have to say, and everyone there wants to know if there is anything they can do to help you. How often would you want to be around people like that? It isn’t likely you would ever want to leave. So what does it take to turn our world into one that looks like that? Paul’s next verse holds the answer:

Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

It takes commitment and determination to be the one, for the Father’s sake, who treats everyone like that. It requires a commitment to embody our Father’s love. In other words, commit to being love with skin on. We can easily imagine and eagerly desire a church that ministers and exhibits love in the way Paul describes. But there’s a problem. Realizing that vision requires doing what is necessary to give that vision to everyone else. When each of us does that, all our needs are met and God has loved each of us with skin on.

Have you ever really contemplated the fact that the marvelous love God has to bestow on those around you may have to be dispensed through you? And can you imagine the joy in the hearts of God’s called-out leaders if the flock lived like this? These things don’t have to be wistful desires; they can be reality.

And just one more of these connections: Lord, let it begin in me. Asking the Lord to love through you is definitely going to challenge you as well as make you a better servant of Jesus Christ!

Soli Deo Gloria!

When was the last time the heavens seemed to be as brass? Did you need encouragement? You prayed, you cried out, and it all seemed to fall flat. Worse, you begged God to speak a fresh word to you and all you heard was the crickets chirping. I have some encouragement for you. The Father has not stopped speaking. But you may have been tempted to believe otherwise.

In Hebrews 1:1-3, we find:

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, v. 2) in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. v. 3) And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.

If there were no other Scriptures to put to rest the idea that God has ceased to communicate, these verses are more than enough. We have the clearest communication of God’s love in the Person of Jesus Christ. In past times, God spoke by ones such as me. The prophets were people like us. The Apostles were people like us. The message was not clear enough.

The Encouragement of Invitation

Now, our Father communicates through One like Him; the Son. His message says we can exchange our sin for His righteousness. If we do, we can join the royal family. We get to be joint-heirs with Him! Remembering that is a great encouragement. And added to that is a Divine invitation. We see one version of it in Hebrews 4:16.

The Encouragement of His Excellency

God’s Son is not merely a prophet. The people who thought He was just a prophet (John 9:17) were wrong. Their error was not seeing that the goodness of every prophet of any age is met and exceeded by Him. And proof is provided in Philippians 2:9-11.

The Encouragement of His Word and Power

In His speaking, He is without mistake. His Word divides between soul and spirit. In power, He is unmatched. Moses directed the wind that divided the Red Sea, but the power was not His. In fact, His direction took place because he was instructed to give it! Jesus holds the power. The power to make fire fall from the sky did not reside in Elijah. Jesus has that power and He is without peer.

The Encouragement of His Life

Every prophet was laid to rest. Jesus has power to lay down His life and take it up again. No matter the features or appearance of the prophets and Apostles, His beauty excels them all. They commanded respect, but His majesty is without equal. In every aspect of life, Jesus surpasses and excels them all. The degree to which He does so cannot be described in human vocabulary!

The Father could not have sent us anyone better. And this is the One He sends to say to you,

Love Me with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

In verse 2: “… whom He appointed heir of all things.” Why do you suppose this phrase is included? The Father is telling us Jesus, His Son, can deliver on any and all promises that have been made to us. How can He do this? He is the heir of all things. Nothing that is, or ever will be, can exist outside His possession and control! EVERYTHING is subject to Him. Consider:

His hand holds all stars, planets, galaxies

He controls the continents, oceans, mountains, rivers, and winds

He owns all the natural resources of every nation

All kingdoms, countries, and military powers move at His command for His purposes

All life is His because He is Life

He can do for you, and through you, all He has said He will do

You can trust Him because He is able. (He Who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it! see Philippians 1:6)

This is the One from Whom we receive so great an invitation to love. If we do not hear what He has to say, we will not hear.

Encouragement in Growing

In Eat This Book, Peterson cites Psalm 40:6. Depending upon the translation, the words will convvey that God is opening our hearing or our ears. The Hebrew word we translate as opening literally means dug. Think of chiseling a hole into cement. That cement is my head (not flattering, I know). God has to cut away what is me in order to open my understanding of Him. The awesome part is, He is willing enough, able enough, and loving enough to do it.

I’ll leave you with these great words of David from Psalm 40:

How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood. Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done, And Your thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with You. If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count. Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears You have opened; Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”

Does your faithfulness build a better you? It does in part. Think about the songs you know that speak about your Father’s faithfulness (Great is Thy Faithfulness, He is Faithful, etc.). Now, what about the fact that God cannot fail at anything He undertakes? Reminds me of Jesus Never Fails and other worship songs with that thought. How do those thoughts go together with Philippians 1:6?

And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

The love God poured out on you and me makes a relationship with Him possible. That is grace! Through faith, we believe and receive God’s gift of salvation. However, from our perspective the gift is not complete. We still struggle with a sin nature. And we can easily find ourselves being unfaithful!

The Word tells us we have the Holy Spirit within us as a promise of God’s ultimate completion of His gift to us. Further, we know the task of the Holy Spirit is to conform us into the very image of Christ. Think about that for just a minute. It tells us God is not going to wait to begin His transformational gift until we have left the planet and ‘signed in’ at heaven’s gate. The process has already begun! And the One Who cannot fail guarantees its completion.

These thoughts should be a great encouragement. Our Father has revealed things about Himself that are easy to grasp:

He is Faithful

He is Reliable

He keeps His Word

He cannot fail

Application For A Better You

Applying those simple truths to His work in us gives us peace for today and hope for the future. They also point to a potential predicament!

There is great hope that we will one day be delivered, as Paul says, from this body of death where we struggle with sin. The Lord loves us enough to guarantee the fulfillment of His plan to build a better you. However, if He has already begun the work of transforming us into the very image of Christ, what does that say about our daily living? Here’s the predicament. Since we know God cannot fail, are we cooperating with Him?

When, or if, we are cooperating with the Father we are in a position to experience life, and that more abundantly. That builds a better you and it’s a joyful process. When, or if, we are not cooperating with the Father, we are in a position to receive His discipline and correction. As loving as that may be, it’s a more painful process.

But notice: His work is accomplished either way! His work still builds a better you.

There is no way for me to know how our Father may be challenging you in order to make you a better reflection of His Son. I do know He is doing that very thing because His Word says He is. I also know that the greatest happiness and joy in life is found in cooperating with Him. I encourage you in it. Pray for one another, and for me, that we will be found faithful in cooperation!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Love Encourages

Have you ever been down, discouraged, and/or depressed? If we are honest, we’ve all been there. Sometimes I get there. The opportunities I have for missions, evangelism, and the Gospel are mind-boggling! My mind wants to chase the How do we get it all done? questions. That can lead to discouragement because only God’s power and provision will turn opportunities into reality.

Love Labors

I understand Who has the power and the provision. But that does not mean we are not to work hard for the Gospel. Christ labored in love for His Father and for us. The New Testament tells us to:

To those ends, I’ll use several posts during July to highlight some of the tremendous opportunities we have. They are truly God-sized! And I know God has appointed some people to help turn them into reality. I just don’t know who they are (yet!).

Love is Sufficient

God’s Word is sufficient in all things. It tells us the many things His love has provided. I hope this passage encourages you. It encourages me:

Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:33-39, NASB

In terms of a command, that is pretty straightforward and simple. I quote and teach this verse regularly. As simple as it may sound, how does one imitate Christ? Truthfully, there are many ways to do this. But Paul immediately gave an answer when he wrote the command –

OK. Imitating Him means walking in love. When the Bible speaks of walking in righteousness, or love, or various other things the idea is daily living. The thoughts are simple, but the scope is huge!

To Walk In Love

Walk in love…My life/your life is to be consumed and characterized by choices made for the good of others. Which others? That, Detective, is the right question! To walk in love is to love God with my whole being (whole heart, soul, mind & strength). Additionally, it would mean:

Loving the family of God

Acting with love toward those who will never believe the Gospel and receive God’s gift of salvation

Loving those who will be hostile to me because of what I believe

Responding in love to those who are happy to be loved but will not return it

Allowing fellow believers (we share the same call to love!) to love me

Giving to the needs of others

Preferring others in the family of God over myself

To walk in love…means being a living example of Jesus Christ

Sounds hard, doesn’t it? The same one inspired to write these simple things was also inspired to write another simple thing:

You’ll recognize that from Philippians 4:13. And these simple things demand a decision: He’s either trustworthy or He isn’t. There’s no middle ground. I don’t know where these things challenge you. My challenges come in trusting for enough mission volunteers and financial resources to teach pastors, build churches, rescue women from sex trafficking/prostitution, install water systems, clothe orphans, maintain a ministry, etc. Is He faithful? Yes! Do I have to know how He will make provision to love through me? No. That’s why it’s called faith.

Commit to be an imitator of Him. He can and will take care of the rest!

What is your purpose? Is there a single, over-arching reason for you to exist? There is! I won’t tell you it’s evangelism. Evangelism is an expression of your purpose. Your purpose isn’t good deeds to others. Like evangelism, good deeds are expressions of your purpose. Your purpose can be clearly seen in Revelation 5.

All God has done from the Fall of Man to the events depicted in the Revelation are for this purpose. God is “gathering to Himself.” He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. Evangelism, missions, and good deeds are clearly necessary but they are the means to an end. God offers His invitations: Come, let us reason together. Though your sin be as scarlet it shall be white as snow. Though it be red like crimson, it shall be as wool; Whosoever will may come; Come unto Me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Many will accept, but most will reject. The scene in Revelation 5 is for those who have accepted His invitation.

The REDEEMER, the One who bought us with His blood, is rightfully worshipped. He is adored not only for His redemptive acts, He is adored because He has gathered believers from every nation, tribe, and tongue. He is exalted and honored by the diversity of His work as Creator. God is infinitely creative and I believe this tells us we will see distinct people groups in heaven. For sure, we will all be glorified, but we won’t all be exactly alike!

He is honored because His redemption of creation is seen to have a purpose. He has made those who accepted His invitation into a nation of kings and priests. Priests are called to serve God in His worship. We are all to be rulers under God’s direction and we are all worshipers, honoring and exalting Him without end.

Why We Do What We Do

In Revelation 5, we also hear heavenly cries of, Power, Riches, Wisdom, Strength, Honor, Glory, and Blessing. Those who have been called to worship by loving Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength see the white-hot, passionate worship of the King. All that we are, all our doing, is for this end. God is drawing people from everywhere to Himself to lift up His magnificent name in worship. Two things are urgent for us: 1) Rehearsal–Practice His worship now and practice often. We need to be skilled at eternity’s activity; 2) Bring as many people with you as possible. That’s why making disciples is our task. And that begins with evangelism.

Where are we in Heaven’s worship scene? If you will permit my extension of the metaphor in the paragraph above, we are coals on that white-hot fire. It’s all about Him, not about us. Worship drives missions and evangelism. You please pray for our upcoming mission teams as we join the Lord in His purpose of turning rebels into worshipers!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Do we want joy or unhappiness? Dumb question? We anticipate times of joy and celebration. We even long for them. It should be encouraging to know infinite joy has always been God’s plan. And it still is! This post is a little ‘academic’ but that can be good! So stay with it…and be blessed by God’s call, promise, and provision.

Joy: In Context

Scholars caution against interpreting Scripture without addressing its context.[1] The Greatest Commandment is a broad Biblical theme. It’s God’s prescription for Man’s fallen condition. In Eden’s Garden, God’s relationship with Man was perfect. God designed it that way and declared it to be so. Then Man questioned God’s love for him. He was tempted to love himself more than God and then rejected God by choosing his own desires over those of God. That’s how sin entered the human race. The Bible is a record of God’s actions to restore His relationship with Man. So the Greatest Commandment is God’s instruction to rebuild that lost relationship.[2] It is a state of being rather than a task to be undertaken.

The love command was given during Moses’ sermon on the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 6). Moses began with this:

You shall have no other Gods before Me, (Exodus 20:3).

The love God requires expresses itself in worship of Him. This is Man’s ‘right’ state of being as defined by God. The divine call is found in Deuteronomy 6:4 –

Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one Lord,

This draws attention to God’s unique worthiness to be worshiped. He alone is Self-existent and infinite in all His attributes. Our priority is to worship and honor God for Who He is. The necessity of commanding Man’s love for God only underscores the heights from which Man has fallen.

Original Joy

In the Garden of Eden, Man’s worship was ‘face-to-face.’ After the Fall, Man faced the prospect of loving God from his fallen, spiritually dead state. After Adam, there was no memory of what it was like to love and worship God as He intended. The Apostle Paul noted this when he wrote:

Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then I shall know even as also I am known, (I Corinthians 13:12).

Paradise

The Greatest Commandment is a call to worship. And that call holds the promise of once again worshiping God face to face. When that promise is realized worshipers will experience eternal journey into His inexhaustible love. How do we know that? Look here…

And that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God, (Ephesians 3:17b-19).

Did you see it? His love surpasses knowledge. It is infinite. For eternity we may plumb its depths and explore its heights, but we will never reach its end. So, God’s call to love Him above all calls us to infinite joy in a relationship that cannot be exhausted or fully explored.

Question: Is the certainty of infinite joy encouraging to you? Would it encourage someone that didn’t know about it? Will you help make sure they know?

Soli Deo Gloria!

[1]David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1991), 57. Bosch makes this point regarding any interpretation of the Great Commission apart from the setting and themes of Matthew. D. A. Carson, Exegetical Fallacies, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996), 130. Carson makes the larger point of interpretation consistent with Biblical themes, not just those by one Biblical writer or another. This broader point is engaged here.

[2]Vernon M. Whaley, Called to Worship: The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God’s Call (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009), 5. “God created to establish relationship with those who are like Him (see Genesis 1:26 NLT)—and because He loves us—and loved us—even before we were born. He wants to reveal Himself as Lover of our souls.”

Serenity: Is it the time before the storm, during the storm, or after the storm? Only one of those choices could be considered miraculous. And that’s the serenity worth examining and worth sharing. Because when it is seen, the world will take notice!

Re-writing this post is theraputic for me. I’m in the storm. How many lessons and/or sermons have we heard, taught, or preached about the disciples in a storm? I have had my own offerings in this area. Our insights to gaining serenity come from two storms Jesus’ disciples faced.

One storm ended after Jesus came to His disciples by walking on the water. You can study the details of that storm in Matthew 14, Mark 6, and John 6.

The other storm ended after the disciples went to the back of the boat to awaken Jesus. They accused Him of not caring whether or not they died. But the storms share many common elements. And both have a great deal to teach us about the serenity that should characterize our lives!

Serenity: Seeing It In The Storms

We don’t get the full impact of these events if we don’t examine the details recorded by the different human writers. Each makes note of things the others do not. So our lesson really comes in building a composite account of the storms. Notice:

The Charge Before the Storm

In both cases, Jesus told the discples to get in the boat and go to the other side.

Jesus’ instruction is to be followed. He is God.

Jesus’ instruction is to be trusted. (But He knew the storm was coming. He’s God!)

The Correctness of the Storm

The storms were not a surprise to Jesus.

Storms we face do not surprise our Father.

God is always at work for our good – even in the storms we endure.

Jesus promises to be with us inand through the storms, not deliver us from the storms.

The Cries in the Storm

The disciples rowed and bailed until there seemed to be no hope.

Then they cried out to Jesus.

What if they had cried out sooner?

How big do the waves have to get before I cry out to Him?

The Control of the Storm

The storm wasn’t to destroy the disciples but to display the deity of Jesus

Disciples have delusions of control.

Jesus is Lord of the storm. Only He can say, “Peace, be still!”

The Conclusion is Written in the Beginning

In both storms, Jesus told the disciples to get in the boat and go to the other side.

What Jesus commands will happen. (Where did the disciples end up?)

The circumstances caused disciples to forget ‘go to the other side.’

Jesus’ instruction (the Word of God) is serenity in the storm.

Serenity: Notice What Was Calmed

Here’s a little ‘homework’ assignment. We often take notice of the fact that Jesus calmed the seas. That speaks of His great power. But which Gospel account tells us that Jesus also calmed the disciples? Check it out. Our Good Shepherd is equally capable of working to bring serenity to fearful hearts.

The danger of the storms endured by the disciples is distraction. And that’s the danger we face in our storms’/trials. Circumstances distract us from what God has said. The world doesn’t need to see Christians who experience no difficulty. They need to see Christians who exhibit serenity and peace while the storms rage! That’s glorious and it’s a miracle that ought to be on display in all our lives. He loves you enough to make that happen. Don’t forget what He said! I’m working on it even as you read!

Soli Deo Gloria!

P.S. – I love the opening pic. It makes me smile. But that’s often how we look at our storms and trials. Nothing was ‘going like we wanted it to’ and then we find out that God was at work all along. That’s the rest of this story I’ll share in the next post!

How many things are disposable? Is money one of them? Just look at the items in the picture! There are several disposable items including:

Packaging

Diapers

Containers

Sacks/bags

And much more

Being Disposable

And then there is the matter of disposable income. We all used to know what that was. We may remember that kind of income. And we know the term doesn’t mean money we throw away. It means money that’s available for discretionary purchases.

My thoughts on disposable things have nothing to do with anything we throw in the trash can. I’m thinking about something or someone at the disposal of another. It’s like disposable income: available. Now, specifically I mean you and me. We are to be at the disposal of Christ. That’s fairly basic, right? Maybe that’s the case. But this very elementary point is at the beginning of one of Scripture’s best-known passages:

But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.

Jesus appeared to the women in the Garden on Sunday morning. He told them to tell His disciples to meet Him in Galilee. Jesus’ wording likely meant any or all of His followers, not just the eleven remaining disciples.

This had also been part of Jesus’ conversation with the disciples after the Lord’s Supper. There was a planned meeting, and Jesus’ followers showed up. They were at His disposal. These disciples were ready and available. They wanted to see Him and hear from Him. Their coming was marked by anticipation and worshiped. In our modern sports vernacular, they were ready to get in the game.

In The Game

This week’s mission team is a group of people just like that. We have quite a list of things to accomplish. And each volunteer has made themselves available to be used by God. You will be hearing about them as we are able to share. I say it that way because internet connections that are already ‘iffy’ are being knocked out by thunderstorms. So, if you will pray for the the work AND the connectivity we will be sure and share our progress. But there is a closing question for you:

Our next Mission: Hope team will be leaving for the Dominican Republic in just a few days. As you support us in your prayers, and as the team labors on site, the writing of Paul is a fitting reminder to us all. The ‘famous’ part of Philippians 2 begins in verse five, Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus… But verses 1-4 tell us about missional living. And, they ‘set up’ verses 5-11.

Missional living is our calling whether we are in a foreign country or here at home. The fact is, we are all in a foreign country. It’s called Earth! This is not our home. We travel through here as pilgrims on a journey to a real, eternal home. In fact, Scripture tells us that home is made without hands! When we forget that we are pilgrims just passing through, we can cause ourselves and others a great deal of pain.

The best picture of missional living is the life of Jesus as Paul tells it in Philippians 2:5-11. Jesus took no thought of Himself in order to ‘lend a helping hand,’ (verse 4). I love the way The Message puts the Word into the modern mind! Here are verses 1-4:

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if His love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care–then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

So, whether you are here at home next week, or serving as a mission volunteer, have a GREAT time letting your love make a difference! How? May I suggest we start with things like agreeing, preferring, loving, and helping? Those things will help others in their journey of faith and service.

Soli Deo Gloria!

PS – THANK YOU for responding to the previous post concerning Pastor Alberto. Needs are ongoing and I’ll be updating you from the D.R. Please keep praying – and you can still use the donation links in the previous post.